


Where the East meets the West

by JesskaEspy



Series: Where the East meets the West [1]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Minor Violence, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-07-16
Updated: 2014-04-19
Packaged: 2017-12-20 09:00:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/885436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JesskaEspy/pseuds/JesskaEspy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gavin is a part of a highly recognised noble family in the East Lands of Oxectune, a land run by only the wealthiest, whereas Michael is a highly skilled thief in the West Lands. Gavin Free is part of a High Noble house, but that doesn't mean he wants to be. And Michael is a thief, purely in it for the money, right? And Ryan? Well, he is just sick of them dancing around eachother.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prolugue - The land of "Peace"

**Celebrium War**  
The Peace Land  


_Oxectune, the peace land, was founded during the later stages of the Celebrium War. Legend is that four noble houses made Oxectune a safe haven during the War that devastated the entire planet. The house of Luna, responsible for healing the sick and wounded of the War. The house of Haywood, responsible for creating the homes and gathering the food for the refugees. The house of King, responsible for dealing with the requests and questions of the newcomers. And finally, the house of Free, the house responsible for defending their new home and making sure everyone was treated equally. It wasn't until-  
_

"Bullshit," Gavin huffed as he slammed the ancient book close. 

"You know your parents wouldn't appreciate that, Master Free," Ryan sighed, shaking his head for the thousandth time since the beginning of guarding the youngest of the High-Noble Frees.

"Well, they can go suck a knob," Gavin grumbled in return, because he, along with everyone in Oxectune knew that everyone was in fact not treated equally. They knew, whether they liked it or not.


	2. Oranges and Opals

_In the West_

* * *

_Drip... Drip... Drip...  
_

He was running... to what seemed to be the end of a tunnel. A damp, murky tunnel. Where was the tunnel going? How did he get here? What was he running to? A loud screech pierced his ear drums. The more important question seemed to be; what was he running from?

_Drip... Drip... Drip...  
_

The echoes of the screech still lingered in his ears, whether it be from the seemingly endless tunnel, or the pure emotion the noise held. But somehow, he could still here his own rugged breathing, as well as,

_Drip... Drip... Drip...  
_

He knew he was moving. Though he couldn't see his legs through the liquid dark, he could feel the pounding of his soles on the concrete beneath them. He risked a glance backwards, not expecting to find anything. Oh how he wished he was right.

_Drip... Drip... Drip..._

__  
Saliva was dripping from the mouth of the monsterous figure before him. It was too dark to see much, but he could easily see one thing; illuminated eyes, glowing a dull green. Soon, that glow was accompanied by another of the same colour, but pouring from the beasts mouth.

_Drip... Drip... Drip...  
_

Acid. He turned to run from the beast, towards the teasing light at the end of the tunnel, but felt a burning sensation on the back of his leg. He stumbled and howled in pain, before breaking out into a clumsy run. His other leg soon shared the same burning sensation as the previously assaulted leg and he crumpled into a heap on the floor.

_Drip... Drip... Drip..._

__  
He could feel the presence of the beast, and it was drawing closer.

_Drip.. Drip.. Drip..  
_

He got onto all fours, an attempt to prolong his life just that little bit. Survival instincts. But what good were they when you were certainly doomed?

_Drip. Drip. Drip.  
_

The rate of his heart increased with the almost demanding pace of the beast's acid.

_Drip. Drip. Drip.  
_

This is it. He felt a large puff of hot breathe on him before the beast pounced.

_Drip, drip, drip. SPLASH!  
_

"SHIT, SHIT, SHIT!" Michael exclaimed, shock directed at the flood of water awakening him from his demonic nightmare. He quickly stood up, a desperate attempt to get out of the puddle of water now soaking his resting place as well as his clothes. He heard a small chuckle from his left and snapped his head to face the source of the sound.

"Shut up, Ray," Michael almost growled, but Ray didn't let up. Ray was too much like Michael's late friend of the same name. Michael sighed before suddenly jumped towards Ray, the latter squawking and flapping his wings, narrowly escaping the wrath of Michael Jones.

After chasing the lorikeet around unsuccessfully, said lorikeet chuckling more everytime Michael missed and ran into something, Michael sat on the ground to recover. Now that he wasn't moving, remnants of the nightmare slipped into his conscience. _Where have I seen that beast before?_ But as fast as they started, his thoughts were thankfully interrupted as a large drop of water invaded his sight. Sighing, he shook his head clear of thoughts, as well as water. He felt his hair, the auburn locks sagging with the weight of the water. So, maybe it wasn't the brightest idea to hide under the water tower.

He grabbed a spare rag from his backpack lying just outside the edges of the puddle and dried his thick curls as best he could. Afterwards, he put the rag back into the backpack and searched inside for some thing else. A large grin broke out on his face as his hands grasped parchment. His latest adventure earned him a charmed map of the whole land, both East and West. He unfurled the map and looked at his surrounding area. He already knew the West like the back of his hand, but the charm allowed him to pinpoint where threats were via small moving dots on the paper. At the moment there were none. After putting the parchment back into it's secret compartment in the bag, he called out to Ray.  
"Oi, we're going back to the Guild." Michael recieved a small squawk as a reply and set of towards the Northern side of the West.

It wasn't long before he reached a fairly large town bustling with life. He counted the days since he last actually bought something in favour of stealing it, and realised that it should be the 6th day of the week; market day. Not that he minded, it was easier to blend in, and easier to get away if need be. He casually strolled through the crowds of people gathering around the colourful stalls, taking quick glances at them himself. Ray occaisionally squawked from the man's shoulder at things of interest before flying off.

_He'll be back._

Michael eventually found himself drifting towards a small fruit stall. He looked over the exotic fruit for sale at the different colours lining the shelves. Circular red fruit lined with white stripes, a pale green cube that looked almost see-through, small spiky yellow balls with shades of green and -  
"Excuse me, what is this called?" Michael asked the elderly stall owner.  
"Oh, that's an orange, it was grown in the old land of Australis," the owner replied with a wise smile. How a smile could be wise, Michael would never know., but this man managed to pull it off.  
"Australis, hey? It is edible, right?" Michael asked, suspicious.  
"Why, of course! People used to peel the skin off and eat the juicy insides, they can be somewhat sour, but are usually very pleasant. As well as being used in baking, the skin was used to deter animals such as slugs, mosquitos and even cats. It was little known that it made good candles too. Scoop the fruit out, put olive oil in and use the pith as a wick. Olive oil is very rare these days, but Madoka oil is the best subsitute." The elderly man's explanation eventually stopped, leaving Michael with an almost exasperated expression.  
"Uh, yeah, sure. How much?" Michael inwardly flinched at his own tone, not meaning to snap at the older man.  
The man either didn't notice the tone or didn't care as he replied with a smile, "Money means little to me, instead, I collect precious items. Get me a single black opal, and you can have all the fruit you want from my orchard."  
Michael sighed, he knew how rare black opals were, and as far as he knew, they were only found in the northern part of Australis, but that didn't mean he didn't have one. But, was it worth the fruit?  
"Do you have any fruit that can heal?" Michael questioned.  
"Why of course, I have quite the selection of different coloured black-naped mangoes, as well as star shaped Langsat, both with healing properties." The elderly man replied.  
Michael had no idea what they were, but he nodded anyways, trying to hide that fact.  
"Fine," Michael said, smiling smugly as the man seemed to perk up, "give me a few days, and I'll get you one. But don't think I won't do something drastic if this is a set up."  
"Of course, good luck," the elderly said, bowing slightly.  
Michael walked away from the stall in good spirits. He had a few small black opals from a previous journey into an over expensive bank owner's vault. "Journey" seemed like an understatement for the amount of time, planning and effort that went into making sure the operation ran smoothly. 

In the distance, Michael heard yells from behind him. He barely got to turn his head before he was forced to jump out of the way in favour of being knocked over by a woman sporting a wooden mask. That meant she was part of the Guild, the same Guild he was heading to. Not too far behind her, a bunch of guards were in chase, trying to avoid the large groups of people crowding the street markets. It wasn't long before they also sped past him. When they were far enough away, Michael whistled, summoning his lorikeet.  
"What?" Ray squawked as he landed on Michael's outstretched arm.  
"Go make sure Barb makes it to the Guild, I'll join you later, k."  
And with that, Ray flew off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was harder than I thought to write, but I really enjoyed the nightmare scene! This is just sorta building everything up because I'm planning for this to go on for a while.  
> The problem is I keep thinking of good parts for future chapters instead of whats directly next, ^^; Next chapter will also be from Michael's point of view.


	3. Panthers and Parents

_In the West  
_

* * *

As Michael shuffled into a nearby alley _(because paranoia, that's why)_ , he spotted a piece of paper stuck to a wall. Curious, Michael went to inspect it. In all honesty, he thought he'd be more shocked to see that it was he who was on a wanted poster, well him in his wooden mask, but after his latest stunt it was expected. He had broken into a High Guard's house for that map, and usually that was punishable by death. Lucky for him, he'd escaped instead. He tore down the poster and looked at the details of the drawing of his mask. For the most part they were right, but they switched the two different looking eye-holes around. The mask made Michael look devil-like. The base was oblong with a pointed bottom and rounded cut outs at the top. It had two symetrical ears, vaguely the same shape as the base. The face had a fox's facial features; slanted eyes, a small nose and a small mouth with real bone fangs. Tribal markings were carved deep into the wooden mask, finishing off the piece.

Michael started again down the alley. It was much darker there than at the bustling markets just 20 metres away. A shiver ran down Michael's spine and he quickened his pace slightly. His hand slowly drifted towards his belt, ready to unsheath his metal sword at any sign of threat. Behind him, he heard a small growl, almost like a screech. In one movement he unsheathed his sword and swiftly turned around to face his target. But nothing was there.

_Calm down, Jones. You're just hyperaware of everything. Stop being paranoid._

After scolding himself, he turned back around and continued down the dark alley. Completely unaware of a pair of lingering purple eyes.

He continued down the alley way, still on high alert for guards, or whatever had made that noise before. As he wandered down another busy street, vaguely in the direction of the Guild, he came across another colourful store, this time with opals instead of mangoes, and citrine instead of those _damned oranges_. Now _this_ was more his forte. The shimmer of golds and silvers flooded his vision, accompanied by the odd shine of a both precious and non-precious gems. He approached the stall and reached out to touch a thick silver chain holding a large green aquamarine. As his finger skimmed over the gem, a plump woman came out from the back of the stall.  
"Hello, dear," her voice was sickly sweet, causing Michael to inwardly cringe. In fear of his voice expressing his discomfort, he simply nodded in what he hoped to be a polite fashion. The large woman turned away to serve another customer, and Michael saw his chance. He quickly swiped the necklace and pocketed it. He continued "browsing" the rest of the stall to seem natural before slipping away.

A loud roar echoed through the crowds and everyone stopped, Michael included. He turned around to the source, seeing a large black cat emerge from the alley he just left. Well, that did explain the noise.

Slowly, the panther turned to face Michael with it's glowing purple eyes.

_You've GOT to be shitting me.  
_

* * *

_In the East_

* * *

The soft light of the sun filtered through the pale green curtains, causing Gavin to stir from his peaceful sleep.  
"Arrrgh," Gavin complained. With his eyes still closed, he chucked a pillow at the curtains for letting such a thing happen. The pillow only opened the curtains, letting unfiltered sunlight pour in and sent bright patterns to dance on the inside of his eyelids.  
"Ryan!" he called out to his guard.  
"Yes, Master Free?" came Ryan's reply.  
"For the last bloody time Ryan, call me-" He began to protest but stopped short as he finally opened his eyes.  
"Oh, uh, hi Dad. Uh, I mean, father." Gavin stuttered out, embarrased.  
"Hello, Gavin. I trust you slept well?" Gavin's father asked, purely out of courtesy, than interest. And Gavin knew it.  
"Fine, father," he replied imitating the same fake courtesy as the older man.  
"Good, now, care to join us for lunch? I've gotten Kara to prepare today's meals." Gavin nodded before widening his eyes in shock.  
"Lunch?!" Gavin almost shouted getting out of bed hastily.  
Gavin's father ignored his outburst as he turned to Ryan.  
"I think you should stay here, make sure Gavin doesn't-" A loud crash interupted his sentence. Gavin's father just tilted his head pointedly towards the pile of Gavin lying on the floor after tripping over a pillow. Ryan nodded in understanding.  
"Yes, Lord Free," the guard responded with a small bow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Michael's mask  
> http://jesskaespy.tumblr.com/post/56321759624/drawing-for-my-current-chapter-fic-on-ao3-where


	4. To the Twisted path's and into the Father's grasp

_In the East_

* * *

Kara, the head maid, stood in the manor's kitchen making sure everything ran smoothly for today's lunch. It wasn't often Lord and Lady Free decided to accompany their son and guard for any meal, let alone lunch, so this occasion had to be perfect.

"Kara!" She heard a call from the other side of the cooking area.

"Coming, Caiti!" She called back.

 

Meanwhile, upstairs, Ryan was copping an undeserved earful from Gavin. "It's not fair! They can't just show up out of the blue and judge me!"

"Gavin, it's just as much their house as yours."

"But that's the thing, it-" Gavin cut himself off to slip a sweater over his head, "should be my house, I was supposed to inherit it when I turned 18!"

"You know there were circumstances preventing that, Gavin,"

"It's like they don't trust me! I won't turn out like the Haywood house's rebel son," he kept going, ignoring both Ryan's statement before, and the wince following his statement..

"Look, Gav. Talk to your dad about it at lunch. You know I can't help, I haven't the power," Ryan said, trying to be reasonable.

"Ryan, you know from experience how that always turns out. He won't let me have it. Hell, he won't even let me live without a bloody bodyguard! I'm already 18, have been for almost a year, but he just won't listen!"

"Maybe that's because you still act like a child," he said with a menacing sense of calm, and walked out of the room, leaving Gavin to untangle himself from the arms of his sweater.

"Ryan. Ryan!" Gavin called out before he sighed defeatedly.

* * *

_In the West_

* * *

Michael was breathing heavily. He had just outrun not only an angry shop owner, _but her fucking panther_. And he didn't know which one was scarier. At least he kept the necklace, but now he faced a new problem.

_How the fuck did I end up in the jungle?_

He was sure he was on the right track to the Guild, but apperantly the Twisting Paths had other ideas. ' _Twisting Paths'. I'd give a medal to whoever was so creative as to call them that._

The Twisting Paths had definitely lived up to their name. The Paths were large. Actually, that's a lie. They were fucking HUGE. That made them the perfect place to hide the location of the Guild. Sometimes Guild members even got lost on them, evidently. The Twisting Paths were long, rocky, trail-like, roads that could defy gravity itself. Featuring loop-the-loops, teleportation pads and vertical climbs that were a _mother fucker_ to climb. Michael set off on what he presumed was the right path, one palm over the shining aquamarine. If it was possible, Michael would say he could almost feel it hum under the skin of his hand.

As Michael finally broke through the last of the jungle scrubs and out into an open plain, a tired smile crept over his face. Despite finally getting out of the jungle, there was still the task of trekking through the rest of the Twisting Paths, and the more pressing task of finding food. Michael looked over his shoulder at the towering fruit trees of the jungle looming behind him. Michael sighed, taking his forever-present bag off of his shoulder in search for anything useful inside. Rope wouldn't work; no low branches. His matches would do more bad than good, and that only left...Michael pulled out two sturdy blades from his bag. But what could he do with them?

He sighed, knowing that this would've been Ray's, the human one's, time to shine. Despite being a year younger than Michael, he was definitely the brains of the pair. Michael put the objects back in his bag before shouldering it and dragging his feet back into the outskirts of the jungle. He was sure something would present itself, hopefully sooner than later.

* * *

_In the East  
_

* * *

Gavin awkwardly sat down at the long dining table, avoiding the gazes of his parents, preferring to swat the tablecloth's tassles beneath the table. He could already tell this wasn't going to be a happy family affair. It never was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHAHAH  
> WOW. It has been an awfully long time, hasn't it? Truth is, I'm lazy, and forgetful, that's why I haven't done anything with this fic, despite this chapter already being written up. Sorry that it is short, but I am definitely in a writing mood now, maybe I'll put another up at a decent time, I still have big plans for this series.
> 
> comments welcome (about both the fic and my procrastination)

**Author's Note:**

> I've got an account on tumblr and fanfic.net under the same name as this, so hit those up if you want. Uhm, idk how often this fic will be updated either, knowing me, it will be VERY irregularly ^^;  
> Thanks.


End file.
